Wagering games employing tiles having characters have been known in the art for many years. The ancient Chinese game of Mah Jongg (Majong) is typically played with 152 tiles shaped like small dominoes and engraved or painted with Chinese designs and Western numerals. Another more contemporary game currently being played internationally, and specifically in Macau, is called Machop. Machop use 20 Majong-type tiles in a game wherein each of ten players receives two tiles. If the player's tiles outrank the tiles of a player-banker, then the player wins, otherwise the player-banker wins. A form of Machop called "China-Dominoes" developed by Mien is played in casinos in Southern California.
The present invention uses 12 different Majong tiles in either 24 or 32 tile sets to implement a wagering game which is totally different in both concept and playing methodology from Majong. The present invention also departs substantially from Machop in that a different number of total tiles are employed, both eight and ten player versions are possible, the players initially receive three vs. two tiles, a different playing format is utilized, and an element of player skill is introduced.